We’ve had a great year at Replicate. We are excited about 2019 and the beginning of E-quipping Cohort, the digital version of the Discipleship Blueprint, Robby’s new book: Here and Now, and Kandi’s new book: Disciple Her.
If you are looking for a new Bible plan for 2019, we’d love to have you join us following in the F260 New Testament Bible reading plan
Download the F260 New Testament Reading Plan:
YouVersion Bible App F260 Reading Plan (PDF) Thanks for being part of our ministry, and we’re excited to share out top 5 discipleship related posts from 2018!Make Disciples, Not Visitors: Rethinking Your Easter Weekend
Most pastors, like me, are praying for God to revive their people on Easter Sunday. But the question is: What are you going to do with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people who might respond to the invitation for salvation? One factor that set the first century church apart from modern churches is that they had a plan for making disciples, not just for making decisions. In Acts 2, I believe the disciples were scrambling to get baptized believers involved in discipling relationships that would continue after they exited the baptismal pools outside the Temple. Every Pastor should ask themselves and their staff: Do we have a process for moving people from being an unbeliever to being a disciple—a pipeline for spiritual growth? Jesus never commanded us to make converts. He expected us to make disciples.
Do You Need a Bible Reading Plan for 2018? Here’s a Free One
The F-260 is a two hundred and sixty day reading plan that highlights the foundational passages of Scripture that every disciple should know. After failed attempts of reading through the Bible in a year with previous discipleship groups, I wanted a manageable plan that believers who never read the Bible before could complete.
Four Simple Tweaks to Move from Reading the Bible to Engaging the Bible
Why can it be so difficult to get engaged in reading the Bible? The stories are incredible, the potent strands of truth that bind God’s Word to our hearts are rampant. We know that these are words of life. We know that we find peace and direction in its pages. Yet, we do not read. And if we do read, we rarely engage. Often, it feels like I am reading the Bible but not engaging. This is a challenge for each of us and it is worth the effort to understand how to move past this and truly engage in the Word of God. After being a Christ follower for over two and a half decades (I’m a very slow learner), I discovered a way to approach Bible reading more effectively. A way to engage with the Word and not just read it. Here are four simple tweaks any believer can make to ensure they are engaging the Bible and not just reading it.
The Secret to Killing the Christian Club
Nothing sounds more inviting than Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I am thankful I could come to Jesus when I was weary and that I can still come to Jesus when I get weary and burdened again. What a refreshing call from the Son of God. Sadly this call is not present in many of our churches. All too often we find the opposite true: Come to church, all of you who are persistent enough to break through our multiple levels of exclusivity disguised as “biblical community”. Rather than hospitals for sinners, many churches are glorified social clubs. It’s a culture that promotes people having their inner circle and friends on the periphery, but few move beyond that Sunday morning smile and nod with an obligatory, “Doing great, how about you?” response. Church leadership may speak out against this culture but unintentionally encourage it by relegating their time to key leaders and other staff. The students and kids see the system and emulate what the grown-ups are doing.
Discipling Your Staff: A Step-by-Step Strategy
The challenge with discipleship is that everyone has their own idea of what it is. What you think of, when you think of discipleship, will inevitably skew the way you practice it. If you were discipled by reading through a book with a leader and discussing the chapters, then you might emulate that in your leading. If you attended Sunday evening discipleship classes where you were taught theology, you might try to do the same in your church. Perhaps you were discipled one on one. Maybe you were never discipled at all (welcome to the crowd). So when we talk about discipling our staff, we must first define discipleship. At Replicate we have formulated the following definition of discipleship;
